Tigers notebook: Sallie still coming off bench

Ron Higgins,Dan Wolken

12:00 AM, Mar 21, 2009

After contemplating a change in the starting lineup for today's game against Maryland, University of Memphis coach John Calipari decided Friday to stick with Doneal Mack at the shooting guard position while bringing Roburt Sallie off the bench.

With Mack struggling in the 81-70 first-round victory over Cal St. Northridge, Sallie stepped in and carried the Tigers with 35 points, setting a school scoring record in NCAA Tournament play.

"I'm not going to start (Sallie), but I can't wait to put him in," Calipari said. "It's not so much him as Doneal Mack. He's had a great year."

The decision to keep Mack in the starting lineup is two-fold. The first factor is continuity, given that Mack has started 30 of 35 games this season and played well in his role as a perimeter defender and secondary scoring option. Plus, there's a chance that making a change now could adversely affect Sallie since he has not started a game this season and appears comfortable trying to be a spark off the bench.

"I know people were talking about it," Sallie said. "But you know what? I had a great game, and Doneal can go for 10 threes the next game. People struggle. I had games where I struggled, and it's just a part of basketball. Any given night, Willie Kemp can have eight 3-pointers. I've seen him do it in practice. Anyone can take over; I just had the hot hand."

Mack, who went 0-for-7 in the Northridge game, said it would not have bothered him to be moved to the bench in favor of Sallie.

"I mean, that was an unbelievable performance," he said. "He's hot, so why not? But coach felt like he needed to keep me in the starting lineup. I've been playing 'Steady Eddie' all year, and he felt like tomorrow I can do the same that Sallie did."

Coincidence, or not?

The year was 1994, and the venue was Wichita, Kan. A team coached by John Calipari came into the NCAA Tournament as a No. 2 seed and got upset by 10th-seeded Maryland in the second round. Though Calipari doesn't coach at Massachusetts anymore, it's still an odd parallel given that he faces off against Gary Williams again today in a 2-10 matchup.

"My point guard then was Derek Kellogg. That's why we lost," a laughing Calipari said. "My point guard now is Tyreke Evans."

No advantage

Though the Tigers have a solid contingent of fans here, as well as Oklahoma, UofM guard Antonio Anderson said Sprint Center is a true neutral site.

"The fans don't dribble the ball or shoot the ball, it's the players," Anderson said. "It's good to have your fans here. You can feed off them a little bit but at the same time. I know Maryland is not worried about our fans."

As a senior and team leader, Anderson is trying to keep the Tigers' focused. So he's the ringleader of making sure that the UofM doesn't get caught up in the general talk from Maryland disrespecting Conference USA.

"All the conference stuff is thrown out the window, the records are thrown out the window," Anderson said. "Two good teams going at it. We're trying to advance. We don't worry about what people say about our conference. We played in the national championship last year and the Elite 8 the year before. We know what we're capable of as a team. We don't pay that any mind."

"Memphis and Wake Forest, they're both teams that rely a lot on their second-chance points," Neal said. "And with a team that's athletic like Wake Forest, they drive the ball and take some tough shots. They've got some big guys who can jump out of the gym and jump over your back. I think we'll do a good job of controlling the boards on the offensive and defensive end. If we do a good job keeping their drivers out of paint, I think we'll have great chance to win."